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MELBOURNE GP ATTENDANCE RECORD BROKEN

By Dan McCarthy

As expected, Melbourne’s Australian Grand Prix attendance record was beaten by over 18,000, a record that has stood since the first Formula 1 World Championship round at Albert Park in 1996.

In total 419,114 people walked through the gates over the four days of racing action, eclipsing the previous record of 401,000 as predicted by AUTO ACTION leading into the weekend.

The Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix saw record numbers come through the gates on Friday and Saturday, while the Melbourne event hosted its third biggest Sunday attendance figures.

Sunday recorded an estimated attendance of 128,294, following on from a record 123,247 on Saturday, record 112,446 on Friday and 55,107 on Thursday.

Thursday was the only day in which Formula 1 cars did not hit the track, with the Supercars Championship, the Australian S5000 Drivers’ Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship.

These supports continued throughout the weekend and drew large crowd numbers to the fence.

On top of the popular support action on track, there was plenty to keep fans entertained off track, evening concerts took place around the circuit including Peking Duck and Bliss n Eso.

Despite reports saying otherwise AA believes the 1995 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide still holds the record attendance for a Formula 1 race down under reported to be 510,000.

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the current issue of Auto Action.